As the 2024 Summer Olympics spin towards their grand finale on August 11, Paris is set to be remembered for more than just record-breaking performances and emerging stars. Besides the dazzling athletic feats and extravagant celebrations, it is the perfectly French chaos and charmingly unforgettable blunders that are sure to leave a lasting impression.

One such blunder occurred before the opening game of South Sudan’s men’s basketball team against Puerto Rico. The organisers accidentally played the Sudanese national anthem instead of South Sudan’s. The mix-up was met with boos from spectators in the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, prompting the organisers to quickly rectify their error after a brief, awkward pause.

The organisers unreservedly apologised for this “human error” in a statement, but this did little to appease some members of the South Sudan team, which ultimately beat Puerto Rico by 90 points to 79. One team member told journalists: “They have to do better because this is the biggest stage, and you know that South Sudan is playing. There is no way you can get that wrong by playing a different anthem. It’s disrespectful.”

The South Sudan men’s basketball team was playing at the Olympics for the first time ever.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011, after waging a devastating 22-year civil war that claimed an estimated two-million lives, both directly and indirectly through causes such as starvation and disease. The legacy of this war continues to affect South Sudan, as the country faces ongoing challenges related to peace and stability.

The South Sudan national anthem gaffe was not the first mishap at the Paris Games. During the opening ceremony on July 26, both French and English announcers introduced athletes from South Korea as representing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea. The same name was later used, correctly, when the North Korean team marched past.

In a subsequent media statement, South Korea said it planned to lodge “a strong complaint with France on a government level”, adding that the country’s Vice Sports Minister, Jang Mi-ran, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, had demanded a meeting with Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

The two Koreas have been divided since the end of World War II, with tensions between them having escalated in recent times.

Going down memory lane, we can dredge up amusing incidents from past Games, including those involving individual athletes. One of the funniest is recounted by historian, essayist and general raconteur David Wallechinsky. It occurred at the 1960 Summer Games in Rome and involved a runner named Wyn Essajas from Suriname. He was scheduled to compete in the 800 m race but was given the wrong starting time. He decided to take a nap and ended up sleeping through the event, leaving his country’s hopes dashed. Suriname would have to wait another eight years to field another Olympian.

South Africans have also had their share of Olympic mishaps, with one notable example being the unfortunate saga of boxer Thomas Hamilton-Brown. After losing in the lightweight category at the Berlin Summer Games in 1936, he went on an eating binge to soften the disappointment of his loss. It was later discovered that there had been a scoring error and he had actually won the fight. Unfortunately, by the time this was realised, he had put on 2.27 kg and was unable to shed this extra weight before the next day’s weigh-in.

But sometimes blunders lead to fortunate outcomes. In the medal heat of the 1 000 m short-track speedskating event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Australia’s Steven Bradbury was bringing up the rear on the final turn. Suddenly, Chinese skater Li Jiajun fell and took out everyone in the race except for Bradbury, who coasted across the finish line to claim the gold medal.

While the Paris Games have seen their share of slip-ups, these moments of charming imperfections have enriched the unpredictable history of the Olympics and added depth to the event’s narrative, making it all the more memorable.